Fate or Destiny ?
by Everybody-Lies2
Summary: When it came to relationships, Mackenzie had never been good at living in the real world. She always believed in Destiny. After all, she had met Will because of it. But she would soon learn that Fate is far worse and has ways to get back at you for past mistakes. Mac learns about Will/Nina and it's not just a one-night stand. But don't worry, I'm a Will/Mac shipper till the end!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, this is my first Newsroom fanfic. I love the show and Will/Mac. **

**English is not my mother tongue, and even though I consider myself pretty good at English, I apologize for any mistake you may find. If you do find them, please point them out so I can correct them. Thank you!**

**Please, know that reviews are the only payment I get in return (and they would make my day).**

**Now, I'll let you read. :)**

Mackenzie Morgan McHale had never been good at living in the real world.

Sure, she was the executive producer of NewsNight 2.0 and had reported more than her fair share of real news. But when it came to relationships, especially concerning Will, she tended to think that it all came down to Fate and Destiny.

Fate had put Brian Brenner on her path so she would learn that such a man would never be deserving of her love. Destiny had given her Will McAvoy so she could experience what it felt like to be truly loved.

But, Mackenzie, being the independent woman that she was, had gotten scared. Will was the first and only boyfriend to ever meet her parents. He was also the only one who had asked her to move in with him. It was all going so well. For the first sixteen months of their relationship, they were blissfully happy. Of course, they argued a lot about the show they were doing at the time, but that's because it's the way they are : fighting for what they believe in.

Sixteen months into the relationship, and even though she was happy, Mackenzie couldn't shake this feeling that it was too good to be true. Not that Will had given any indication that he was getting tired of her, but nonetheless she was worried. Will was a famous anchor and there was always a lot of women around him, trying to snatch him away from her.

One night, when Will was away (those were the nights she hated most), fear got the better part of her. She was drinking alone in their apartment (well, mostly Will's) and started to think about him meeting someone else, someone younger and more beautiful than herself. Mackenzie was a beautiful woman, Will often said so himself, but she was nothing compare to the tall top models that Will attracted. That's how she managed to convince herself that Will would, sooner or later, leave her for someone new. And that's also how she ended up starting her four-months affair with her ex.

Brian really had a shitty timing according to her (according to him, he probably got very lucky) because that was the night he chose to call her back, after two years of total absence. So, when she picked up her phone, absolutely convinced that her relationship with Will was doom to fail, she decided to go ahead and screw everything up.

She slept with Brian for four months, not most of the nights, but still.

Two months after she ended her affair, she thought Will was going to propose. Yeah, because it turned out her fear was unfounded, Will didn't give a damn about top models with no brains. He only wanted her. When she realised that, it made everything she had done even much worse than before. Because she had finally understood that she loved Will more than anything, and she should have fought for him instead of accepting defeat. Mackenzie had felt really bad, not only was she guilty of cheating on Will, but she knew she couldn't keep lying to him. She also knew that her admission would mean the End.

It turned out she was right about that.

Will had been so furious, he couldn't comprehend why she had cheated on him. He had done everything in his power to make her happy, to show her how much he loved her, and she had stabbed him in the back. He hadn't let her explain. He had thrown her out of the apartment, telling her that he never wanted to see her again. After that, Mackenzie had spend that fateful night wandering in the street of New York. She had ended up on a bench in Central Park, and had cried until there was no more tear to shed.

Mackenzie still remembered that night as if it was yesterday.

She had been back from the Middle East for 19 months now, and was the EP of NewsNight. When she was embedded, she had realised she had met Will because of Destiny. Surely, if you manage to meet the one person in the world that makes you whole, destiny must be involved. The world is so huge and full of people that higher powers must be conspiring to make you meet your soulmate. Or else, it would be impossible to find true love.

That's what Mackenzie thought anyway. Destiny made her meet Will, but it wasn't Destiny that had taken him away. She had been the one to destroy everything.

After three years without Will, two of those spent in the Middle East where she saw things that would forever haunt her, she had decided to come home. The first year back at ACN had been difficult, but she hadn't given up. Not this time. She had given Will time to get used to her again, she had taken every punishment he had thrown at her.

For the past 6 months, since she had learnt that Will had left her the message, things were going better. They were colleagues, EP/anchor, even friends. She was finally at a point where things were looking up. Will and her were meant to be, and she was given a second chance at true love. That was the conclusion Mackenzie had reached yesterday night (Friday, November 18th, 2011). So she spent her weekend going shopping with Sloan, having Sunday's lunch with Jim and talking to Will on the phone at 2 p.m.

She was blissfully unaware that Monday morning Fate would crush her hopes of "happily ever after" and punish her once and for all.

**Tell me, is it worth continuing ?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for your reviews! I really appreciate feedback.**

**Here's a new chapter. ****You could say it's the "calm before the storm".**

**The style is a little bit different from the first chapter because of the dialogues. I hope I managed to get it right. :)**

Monday morning, Mac woke up early. By 7 a.m, she was out of her apartment. An hour later, she entered the Atlantis World Media building and joined Sloan at the gym.

"Kenzie, over here." Sloan called from the treadmill she was on.

"No need to yell, Sloan. There's like three other people here. I'm sure I would found you myself." Mac said, yawning. She took her place on the treadmill next to Sloan's.

"Didn't you sleep enough last night ?" Sloan asked, curious. Her friend looked a bit tired, and that was saying something when it came to Mackenzie McHale.

"I would have if Will hadn't kept me awake most of the night." Mac replied, as if the answer was obvious.

"Really ?! Will kept you up last night ? What did you do ?" Her friend was eager to know more.

Looking at Sloan, she realized what she had just said.

"No, it's not like that." Mackenzie corrected. "Will called in the middle of the night, he wanted to talk about a few stories we could add on the show this week".

"And he couldn't wait this morning to tell you that ?"

"Apparently no."

"You know what I think ?" Before Mac could respond, Sloan continued. "I think Will just wanted to hear your voice before going to sleep so he invented some stupid excuse to call you."

"Firstly, it's not some stupid excuse. I'll have you know, it's important for an EP and an anchor to talk about what they're going to put on their show." Mac explained, trying to justify Will's action. She always defended Will, even if it was for something as insignificant as a call in the middle of the night. Sloan was nodding, a smile upon her face and a look in her eyes that screamed "Right. Find an excuse too. I believe you".

"Secondly, it's not like it's unusual for him to call. I mean it's not like this is the first time, you know." Well, Sloan did know, but she had another question.

"So, did you and Will talk about something that wasn't about the show ?" Sloan really wanted to know more about those late night calls.

She couldn't help it. She sucked at relationships but even she wasn't that blind. Those two were meant to be together, no matter what happened in the past. They were suppose to find their way back to each other. Sloan was rooting for them. Hell, everyone in the newsroom was rooting for them.

Will just needed to find how to forgive Mackenzie, because time was not stopping and Will wasn't getting any younger, Sloan thought.

And really, if Will and Mac couldn't find a way to fix their relationship, what chances did the rest of them have at finding true love.

They were the ones everybody look up to, professionally speaking. Personally speaking, the staffers had been through enough of their breakdowns (yeah, because there were a lot of them the first year) to know that if they didn't love each other, they would have killed each other within the first three months.

So, yeah, Sloan was invested in Will and Mac's relationship. She didn't care that she didn't have all the facts or that it was absolutely none of her business. But, actually, it was her business. Mac had made it her business when she had chosen her as a friend back then, best friend now. It was only normal that she wanted to see her best friend happy. And she knew that Mackenzie McHale would not be happy until she was back in Will's arms.

"No." Mac answered her previous question.

"Kenzie." Sloan insisted.

"Honestly, we only talked about the show." Mac replied, getting clearly annoyed by her friend's insistance. She saw her begin to open her mouth, but she cut her off before she could ask again. "Oh, shut up !" Jesus, Sloan was worse than a kid sometimes ! And then, feeling a little bit guilty, she added "Please". Things were going better with Will, that was true but she didn't want to jinx it.

"Fine." Sloan gave up. She knew Mac wasn't mad at her. She had just wanted her to stop asking. "But, FYI, if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here…you know." she added with a smile.

"I know. Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of keeping it a secret from you." Mac said, jokingly. "Now, can we please focus on running. I did woke up early because you didn't want to be here alone."

Mackenzie had come to the gym because Sloan had asked her to. She would have happily stayed in bed for one more hour. But Sloan was her best female friend, and when it didn't come to giving her more time for economic news on the show, she found that she could rarely refuse her anything. Because that was what best friends did : stick together. And Mac knew she wouldn't find a friend like Sloan ever again, so she wasn't about to let her go.

At 9 a.m, Mac and Sloan made their way into the newsroom. They had cleaned up after the gym. Both went to get coffee, greeting everyone they saw with a good morning. Everybody was already here, except for Will. He was probably having a hard time waking up, because contrary to popular belief, Will was not a morning person, especially when he wasn't able to get a proper night sleep.

Once their coffee cups were filled, they went their separate ways. Sloan needed to speak to Don and Mac had a billion things to do before the morning rundown at 11 a.m.

She got into her office, putting her bag and coffee on the desk. But before she even had time to walk around it and sit, Neal came through the door.

"Mackenzie, can I pitch you a story ? It's about…" When Neal was excited about something, it was usually pretty hard to shut him up. And even though she was in a good mood, Mackenzie still hadn't drunk her coffee.

"Neal, please, slow down, ok." She cut him off. "Can we do this after I put coffee in my system ? Because right now, honestly, you're just gonna talk and I'm not gonna listen. And it's going to be a waste of time." She said, asking nicely.

He looked confused for a few seconds then realized. "Oh, yeah. Right. Sorry." Mackenzie was the best EP in the business, but Neal sometimes forgot that she needed her coffee (or, she could get grumpy) to be able to function properly all day, especially since she usually skipped her meals for one reason or another. "I'll come back later." He said, exiting the room.

Mackenzie was finally able to sit down and take a sip. She drank it all in five minutes, which was an exploit considering how hot it was. She was proud of herself. She now had 105 minutes until the rundown. In other words, plenty of time to do everything she had to.

She got up to clean her desk a little. It wasn't very neat, mostly due to the fact that she had lots of papers to read, along with all the notes she scribbled here and there. She really needed to get a new notepad !

Sorority girl, also known as Jennifer Johnson, chose that moment to come in.

"Mac, hi. I got the article you asked for." Great more mess.

"Great ! Just put it here. I'll read it later." She said, pointing to somewhere on her desk. "Thank you !" She added, looking up to smile at the intern. Then, she opened her top drawer and hid the chaos of papers inside.

"Ok." Jennifer put the paper down. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, she saw something. "Hey, did you notice this ?" She asked.

"Noticed what ?" Mac replied, still busy.

"The envelope on your desk with your name and the mention 'URGENT' on it." She answered awkwardly.

"No. Where ?"

Jennifer handed it to her boss. "Here."

"Thanks." She looked down at it. The young girl left her office silently.

It was strange. Why would anyone leave this on her desk, she thought.

Confused and curious, Mackenzie proceed to open the envelope.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for your reviews. I love them!**

**And now, let the angst begin.**

Once the envelope was opened, Mackenzie turned it upside down. Its content slid out, right into her hand. There were pictures. Four of them. All showing the same image.

One look at them and Mac felt her heart stop beating. In that awful moment of solitude, she could have sworn someone had plunged their hand into her chest, squeezing so hard that her heart reduced to ashes.

Will and Nina Howard.

The anchor on a mission to civilize and the gossip columnist.

She would have laughed, if it wasn't so painful.

The photos were displaying _them _in various situations. Will and Nina at a restaurant, leaning dangerously against one another. Will and Nina at a baseball game, in a VIP box. Will and Nina walking in Central Park, discreetly. Will and Nina entering his building, leaving no doubt as to what would happen next.

She didn't know what she wanted to do most : cry or scream. But she could do neither, because she was in her office. People would ask questions, and she had no answer to give. All she knew was that she badly needed to get out of here, away from prying eyes.

So, she put the pictures back in the envelope and took it with her. She walked out of the room, paying no attention to her surroundings. She bolted out of the newsroom, hoping no one would stop her. Strangely enough, no one did. Thanks god, because if anyone had looked into her eyes right now, she wouldn't have been able to hide the pain.

She went straight to the balcony. The weather was cloudy, it wasn't raining yet, but still it insured that nobody else would be outside. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to put some air into her body.

Then, she slid down the wall, in the far corner of the balcony, so that no one inside would saw her from the corridor.

She had to look at those photos again. She didn't want to, but she had to make sure they were real.

Who was she kidding ? Of course, they were real ! She knew they were. But she hadn't pay attention to the details, maybe they would give her an indication that this was some sort of joke, perhaps a new way for Will to punish her.

She looked at _them _again. They didn't wear the same clothes twice. Therefore, it wasn't a one-time thing. That hurt ! The thought of _them _together once was already unbearable, so imagine multiple times. Then, she noticed the pictures were dated. The oldest one was from two months ago, at least. Despite the fresh air, it really felt like she was being strangled by invisible hands. And to make matters worse, from what she was seeing, Will seemed happy. Happier than she had seen him in the past five years. For God's sake, he was holding _her_ hand, smiling at _her_, flirting with _her_ and with no doubt fucking _her _!

Suddenly, she dropped everything on the floor.

And began crying. And crying. Completely breaking down. The situation was taking its toll on her. How could she have been so stupid ? She had misread all the signals. She had thought he was happier because their relationship was getting easier. Not constantly filled with memories of her cheating. She had thought the message he left on her voicemail contained more than what Nina Howard had told her, more than just a "you're good at your job".

Nina Howard. The fucking gossip columnist. Her nemesis.

Of all the women on Earth, he had to chose this one. The one who made a fool of him by writing for TMI, less than a year ago.

The worst part was that she had actually begun to like Nina. The woman had expressed remorse for her actions, she hadn't divulged the fact that Will was high on the air the night of the Ben Laden broadcast or that he had been taken off the 9/11 broadcast. She had been proud of Will because he had managed to civilize her. Now, she knew how !

The tears were still falling. She hated that. Mackenzie McHale hated crying, almost as much as she hated jellyfish. It made her feel weak. She didn't remember crying that much since she had broken up with Will. Of course, she had wept in the Middle East every time someone she knew had died. But those were normal reasons, serious reasons. Crying because the man you cheated on broke up with you was not a good reason : she had brought it upon herself. Crying because said man was dating someone else, five year after the break up was even worse.

_Back to the newsroom…_

Will was finally here. The rundown meeting was in 10 minutes but he still hadn't seen his EP.

"Where's Mac ?" He asked, loudly.

"Isn't she in her office ?" Kendra replied.

"No." He was concerned. Mackenzie was always here before him. Always.

"I'll find her." Jim said. "Don't worry." The senior producer sensed his boss's worry.

He got up from his chair, not waiting for a reply. He checked out her office again, just in case she had come back. He found it empty. So he tried the easiest way and called her on the phone. Mac always had it with her. However, not this time because he heard a ringtone and saw the papers on her desk vibrate. He lifted them up and there was her Blackberry. No one knew where she was and she didn't have her phone. Now, he really felt like something was wrong. Her bag was here so she couldn't have gone far. An idea crossed his mind and he knew exactly where she was : the balcony. There weren't many places in this building you could go to to take a break. The balcony was the only one where you could escape the perpetual cacophony of the newsroom.

Once there, he opened the door and stepped outside. He spotted her immediately. She hadn't heard him so she was absolutely unaware that he was seeing her cry. He took a few steps and called her name. She must have been deep in thought because she still hadn't acknowledged him.

He didn't like it, didn't like it at all. Seeing her like that. Mackenzie had always been the strong one. When they were in the Middle East, she had always been the one to comfort him. Twenty-six months embedded was tough. At the beginning, Jim hadn't believed they would last long, especially considering Marines and their dislikes of journalists. But he had been wrong. The Marines had taken an immediate liking to Mac. Not because she was a woman, but because she was simply Mac. They had respected her right away. On the other hand, they had needed time to like the rest of her team. A month into their journey, Jim had asked her why the Marines had reacted like that toward her. She had just answered that her reputation preceded her with a mysterious smile. To this day, Jim still wasn't able to understand what she had meant.

So, yeah, when he saw his boss in this state, he wasn't happy. He knelt down next to her and put his hand on her arm, calling her name again. She looked up, startled.

"Jim ?" She was surprise to see him. "What are you doing here ?"

"Mac, the rundown meeting is about to start." He replied anxiously.

Jim glanced at the pictures, scattered on the floor. He went to pick one up, because he couldn't make what it was. However, Mac was faster. She gathered the photos, putting them back into the envelope and making sure Jim couldn't see them.

"What is it ?" He asked, curious.

"Nothing." She answered faintly.

"Mac, you're here all by yourself crying. Don't tell me it's nothing !" He snapped. Then, he looked right into her eyes and his heart broke for her. Just as quickly as the anger had risen, it died out.

"Jim, please." She wiped her tears with her hands. "I don't want to talk about it." She said, trying to calm down.

He put his arms around her, saying nothing, and she buried her face into his chest. If she didn't want to talk about it, he knew he wouldn't be able to make her. Instead, he would give her his comforting presence. For now, it would have to be enough.

While thinking, Mackenzie had decided that she wouldn't confront Will. He was a grown man, he could dated anyone he wanted. It wasn't her business. Even if it was Nina fucking Howard. There wasn't a damn thing she could do about it anyway. She had been the one to cheat on him, to break his heart into pieces. It didn't matter that she had broken hers too. If it hadn't been for her stupid mistake, none of this would be happening. She would be married to Will by now, probably with a kid or two.

Will deserved happiness, more than anyone else she knew. And she was determined to let him have it. Even if it meant without her. She had no say in his life, he wasn't hers anymore. He was Nina's.

After a few minutes in Jim's arms, she asked him if he could go get her bag so she could clean up and make herself presentable. She had no desire to go back into the newsroom looking like a zombie.

When Jim reappeared, Mac went to the bathroom. He waited until she was done. Once she was out, Mackenzie McHale looked like the exemplary boss. If he hadn't seen her moments ago, he wouldn't have been able to tell she had been crying. It was really scary, Jim thought. He had never seen Mac look so professional.

"Let's go." She said. Even her voice sounded a little bit different, maybe he noticed because he knew her well.

As he followed her, Jim Harper frowned. He could feel the change in the air. And whatever it was, he foresaw nothing good.

**I try to update as fast as I can, I'm sure you have noticed.^^ But it is becoming difficult. I can't promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow. But don't worry I won't make you wait too long either. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'd like to thank everyone for your lovely reviews. Especially SerialStoryLover (Btw, I love your fics). Well, actually I love any fic with Will/Mac and I probably read each fic on this site at least 5 times. But still. I dare you to leave reviews as long as his/hers. ^^ Nah, I'm just kidding!**

**All the facts in this chapter are real. It is set on November 21th, 2011. Yeah, I did my research because I needed everything to look real. Also, if you hadn't noticed, I can't write chapters that go through long periods of time. I mean I'm on chapter 4 and we are still on Monday. xD ****So I think this story is gonna be long, if I manage to finish it of course.**

**FYI, it took me 3 hours to write this chapter. Seriously 3 hours for less than 2,000 words. Some people read faster in 1 minute than I type in 3 hours. I say that because ever since I saw Mackenzie speed read on the show, I decided to try it. It's really interesting.**

**But I digress...so I'll let you enjoy chapter 4. **

Once Mac and Jim reached the newsroom, they went immediately to the meeting room. Everyone was already seated, waiting for the executive producer to arrive.

"Sorry for the delay, people." Mac apologized without further explanation.

She took her usual place at the far end of the table, dropping her bag on the table. She was very careful not to make eye contact with Will. But of course, he noticed it within seconds.

"Where were you ?" He asked.

"Busy." She replied harshly, looking down at the papers in front of her. "Alright, let's start." She continued. "Tess, what do you have on the protests in Tahrir Square ?" She was trying to avoid him.

"Ok, so …" The assistant producer started, but she didn't have time to get any further because Will cut her off.

"Hey, hold on a minute ?" He made a hand gesture in Tess's direction. And still looking at Mac, he added "Seriously, where the hell were you ?" His voice rose. " I got here at 10:35 a.m and you weren't here. Last night, you said …" But his executive producer didn't let him finish.

"Well, William, as I said thirty seconds ago, I was busy." Now, she had raised her head, looking him right in the eyes. She had finally calm down enough, so that her eyes wouldn't betray her. She knew that if she kept avoiding him, it would arise suspicions. Also, she wasn't about to let him disturb the meeting.

Will, for his part, felt like a scolded child. The only person who had ever called him William was his mother. And since she had been dead for the last eleven years, he hadn't heard anyone call him that. She had said it with a very professional voice, that left no room for discussion. A clever man would have stepped down and kept his mouth shut.

Even though, he considered himself clever, he was also pretty stupid when it came to Mackenzie. Moreover, he didn't like being moked in front of his employees. So he used the easy way out.

"I don't give a damn that you were busy. As my EP, I expect you to be here on time." He snapped. Looking around him, he began to regret his outburst. But damn it ! If she was determined to be so fucking professional with him, so would he.

He didn't understand why she was so short with him. It had been less than three minutes since she had stepped into the room and he felt like they were back to square one. Except, she was the one pissed. She had no right to be ! He quickly thought about anything that he had done that could make her upset, but he reached the conclusion that he had done nothing to deserve that kind of behavior. Last night, they had been laughing over the phone. So he was really confused now.

Mackenzie didn't take the bait. She wasn't about to declare a war right here. So she did the professional thing and apologized. "You're right." It was costing her a lot to say this, but she continued. "I'm sorry, ok ? It won't happen again." She couldn't stop her next words. "If you want me to be on time, maybe you should stop calling me at 2 a.m. I'm not a bloody machine. I too need some sleep."

Fuck, she couldn't believe what she just said. She basically told him not to call her in the middle of the night, ever again. She loved those late night calls. No, she thought, it's for the best. She had to put a huge gap between Will and her. Or she would never be able to move on. And she had to, for her own sake. She couldn't keep waiting for a man who was clearly never going to forgive her. A man she had lost five years ago.

Fuck, he couldn't believe she had just said that. It was like revocking his private right to call her whenever he wanted to. Fuck, fuck, double-fuck !

But he decided to stop the massacre. Because they were in a room full of people, all looking like they were ready to either hide under the table or bolt out of the room, fearing the sparkling tension would set the room on fire. He didn't want to make a scene now. Even if he want to continue this discussion, he knew Mackenzie wouldn't let him go on like he wanted to. They had to finish the rundown meeting first.

So, Will decided to be the bigger man. He didn't reply to her comment and turned to Tess, asking her to continue. Mac sighed internally. The collision had been avoided, for now.

Tess looked anxiously between her two bosses, as if she was afraid to open her mouth. "It's ok, go on." Mac reassurred her.

After a few seconds, Tess went on, overlooking the tension. "Alright, so…as I was about to say…" She looked pointedly at Will. "The protests have grown in size. The police is widely criticized for their crack down and the cabinet has resigned. Also, in an agreement reached with the Muslim Brotherhood, the military council has vowed to install a civilian prime minister and to accelerate the transition to a civilian government, with the presidential elections being held by June 2012."

"Ok. We are going to put it in the A-block." Mac said to no one in particular. Then, to Will, she added. "And you are going to open tonight's show with it". The anchor nodded. He let her that the reins. Will's presence was often not needed for the rundown meeting but he liked being here anyway.

"Right. What else do we have ?"

Martin raised his hand. "About his night with Mila Kunis at the Marines Corps Ball, Sergeant Moore said..." Mac hold out her hand, "Are you kidding me ?" Everyone looked amused. Martin always had a sense of comic timing without knowing it. "Well, I just thought it was nice to show that a celebrity had a blast at…" Mac cut him off again. " Of course, she had a blast at the Marines Corps Ball. Everyone has a blast there ! " She said matter-of-factly.

Now, everybody was looking at her, wondering the same thing.

"How do you know ?" Maggie risqued asking.

"I went a few times." She answered, shrugging her shoulders. Sensing their insistent stares, she added "What, I have Marines friends."

Will couldn't keep quiet any longer. "You couldn't have gone last year, you were here. And you couldn't have gone the three years before that because you weren't even in the country." He didn't add that she hadn't been to the Marines Corps Ball when they were together.

"Well, I have known them for a long time." She replied as nicely as possible, considering the fact that she was speaking to him. "Now, can we please go back to work." It wasn't an actual question, just a statement.

"Ok. About the OWS, the pepper spray attack led to a resurgence." Neal stated.

"Temporary resurgence." Will corrected.

Mac agreed with him, but she wasn't going to say it out loud. "Put it in the C-block."

"But Mac, I think it's important to..." Neal protested.

"C-block, that's all. I'm not going to put it in the B-block. It's just a temporary situation, there are stories which really need our attention." Well, there, she had just agreed with Will. He smirked a little, but she couldn't see it because she wasn't looking. "Jim, what about Romney ?"

"Yeah, he's on top in the Republican race for presidential nomination after his success in New Hampshire." The senior producer added "And he also admitted that, and I quote, he tasted a beer and tried a cigarrette once, as a wayward teenager".

"Of course, we all believe him." Mac said, sarcastically. "That will go in the B-block. Jim, you take care of it, ok ?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem." The young man answered. He was still looking suspiciously at her. The rundown meeting was coming to an end and she has been her usual self, just more uptight.

Mackenzie gathered her stuff and walked out of the room as everybody else got up from their seats to go back to work. Will literally jumped out of his chair to chase after his EP but the staffers slowed him down because they were all leaving the room at the same time, therefore blocking his way.

By the time he reached her, she was already in her office, putting an envelope into her drawer.

Mackenzie heard him come in. "Yes ?" She stared at him. She really hoped her mask was firmly in place.

"Did I do something wrong ?" He needed to ask her, because he felt like she was giving him the cold shoulder.

Yes, you did something fucking wrong ! Like Nina Howard, for example ! But she kept her thoughts to herself.

"No." She said instead, trying to remain _very _calm. Her mind was telling her to be composed while her heart wanted nothing more than to reach for the computer and smash it on his head. In the meantime, her soul was torn apart by the awful truth she had discovered. Or rather stumbled upon.

She felt she should justify herself for her out-of-the-ordinary behavior so she continued her previous lie. "Look, I really am fine. Just a bit tired, that's all." He didn't look convinced. "Besides, I'm hardly the only one who gets grumpy when I haven't slept properly". Take you for example. Will could yell at people for trivial things and it was considered normal behavior. But if she had the misfortune to do the same, something must surely be wrong with her. Fucking nonsense if you ask her !

Will was about to speak, but he paused for a few seconds and decided against it. He could tell something wasn't right, but he knew it would be a waste of time to press the issue. Not now when they had a show to make. Mac would never allow it. So after one last look at her, he left the room, saying nothing and looking perplexed.

Thanks God, Mackenzie thought, relieved that he was finally out of her sight.

She knew she had to let him go, for his sake and her own. After all, she couldn't spend the rest of her existence waiting for him. She kept telling herself that she would be alright, but she knew it wasn't like other times.

And frankly, she wasn't sure she would survive letting him go.

**I have updated really quickly. 4 chapters in 4 days. I'm really trying to not keep you waiting guys. :)**

**Also, please take 30 seconds to review and let me know what you think about the story. It's very much appreciated. Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for your reviews. :) I love them!**

**I hope you'll like the new chapter.**

"This is News Night. I'm Will McAvoy. Goodnight."

The broadcast finally ended. It had gone smoothly, nothing exceptionnal, but still a good show.

Will stood up from the anchor desk and made his way to Mackenzie's office. They had barely talked since this morning, unless it involved something about the show. And even those exchanges had been short. So he intended to catch her before she left.

Mac was already gathering her things, ready to leave for the night. She had promised Sloan this morning at the gym that they would go to Hang Chew's. Needless to say that now she really had no wish to go, but since she couldn't come up with a good excuse, she was stuck.

She also had no intention of running into Will after the broadcast. After it was done, she had gone directly to her office, hoping to avoid him. By her calculations, Will must have already made his way to his office and was probably changing his clothes.

Just as she was about to head out, her door opened.

"Hey, do you have a minute ?" Damn it. She had been so close. He was supposed to get changed, not come straight here.

"Good show tonight." She replied instead.

"Yeah. Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for this morning." He felt he needed to apologize for his outburst. He was also feeling a bit guilty for keeping her awake when she was suppose to sleep. And he couldn't help but notice that she looked tired. Well, tired wasn't the exact word he was looking was, but he had no clue what the right word was for what he was seeing in her eyes. It was unsettling. "If you want to take some time off for a few days, you can."

Was he trying to get rid of her ? She couldn't believe he would agree to having anyone else in his ear but her. Oh but wait, he was already having Nina Howard instead of her in his bed, so it shouldn't be such a surprise.

"I wouldn't be thrilled about it, you know, not having you in my ear, but I guess I could manage for a few days." He tried to explain, seeing the bewilderment on her face. "Plus, Jim did a pretty decent job tonight." Mac had asked her senior producer to take over for the Romney segment. Since he had been the one on the campaign bus (albeit it had been absolutely useless), she had told him 60 seconds before the show that she would let Jim handle this part of the broadcast. Will suspected she had waited until the last moment so he wouldn't be able to object in front of the crew.

"Thank you, but it won't be necessary." There was a small part of her that was relieved, he still wanted her here. There wasn't a chance in hell she would leave News Night unattended anyway. She wouldn't leave it to Don if she could help it. Not that she had anything against him, he was doing good with his show but she couldn't picture him doing News Night. They just didn't have the same mentality when it came to producing a newscast. Jim, on the other hand, would do a fantastic job, she knew. She trusted him completely but he still lacked the experience. That's why she had decided to give him more responsabilities, like she had done tonight. She had no doubt that soon her senior producer would be ready to produce his very own show. And she couldn't wait for this day to come because Jim was a hardworker and he would make her proud.

"Ok." He was about to leave. "But if you want to come later tomorrow, you can. You don't have to be here at 9 a.m., you know."

Now, Mackenzie was beginning to get annoyed. She couldn't bear his caring tone. Especially because it was his fault if she was feeling like this. Besides, she wasn't a child, she could take care of herself. She was about to voice her thoughts when someone barged into her office.

"Kenzie, are you – Ooops, sorry Will, I didn't see you there – ready ?" Sloan finished her question, looking at Mac.

"Ready for what ?" Will asked, turning his back to Mac and his attention to Sloan who had almost bumped into him.

"We're going to Hang Chew's. You wanna come ?" She asked Will, completely missing Kenzie's cut-off signal. She really didn't want to spend the evening with him.

"Ye – actually no, I can't." He had wanted to say yes, hoping to get his EP to talk to him, but he had already made plans for tonight.

"Why ?" Sloan wanted to know more. "What do you have to do apart from going to your apartment and spending the night alone ?"

Mackenzie looked down. Her heart ached. Her friend couldn't be further from the truth. Will was probably going to spend the night with Nina. Suddenly, she wished he had said yes. She'd much rather have to spend the evening with him and hurt everytime she looked at him than know he was in _her_ arms. She had a desperate urge to drink herself to death. With any luck, she would completely forget today.

"Sloan, let's go. I'm sure Will can entertain himself." She took her friend's arm, forcing her out the door.

"Oh, ok." The economist managed to say, while she was yanked out of the room and toward the elevator. "Goodnight, Will." She managed to yell through the newsroom.

He was glad he hadn't had to answer Sloan's question, but at the same time, Mackenzie's answer made him feel uneasy. Damn it, she shouldn't be able to make him feel like this ! He hated it ! He stood there for a few minutes, until he remembered he had somewhere else to be.

_At Hang Chew's…_

As soon as they took their seats at the bar, Sloan ordered two martinis.

"So, wanna tell me what's wrong ?" She didn't waste any time asking.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Her friend was set on avoiding answers.

"That's a child's answer, Kenzie."

"It's not. If you don't know what someone is talking about, you have to let them know."

"True. But when you know what someone is talking about, and you give them this crappy answer, it is."

The bartender brought their drinks.

"Thank you." Sloan said. Turning toward Mac once more, she continued. "And I'm talking about the fact that you were super duper happy this morning, and you almost ripped my arm off 10 minutes ago."

"Sorry." Mac sent her an apologetic look.

"And before you tried to give me a shitty excuse, I know you snapped at Will in the rundown meeting."

Right then Mackenzie drank all the martini in one go. Once she was done, she slammed the glass on the bar.

"Another." She told the bartender.

Wow, something is _very_ wrong, Sloan thought.

"I was wrong." Mac stated.

"What do you mean ?"

"We are not meant to be together." She didn't have to ask who _we_ were. This could only be about Will. "I thought we could make it work, that in a undefined future he would forgive me, but it was all wishful thinking." She wasn't crying, but Sloan could hear the pain in her words and right now, even though she had no idea what he had done, she really wanted to find Will and give him a piece of her mind. If Mackenzie was hurting because of Will Mc_Ass_voy, it was her duty to defend her.

"I don't want to talk about it, and I won't, so please Sloan don't push it. Can we just pretend that everything is fine ?" She asked, pleading.

"Ok." It's not what Sloan wanted, but if Mac needed a friend to keep her mind off her current thoughts, she would be that friend.

They made small talk, about everything and anything (mostly about anything), but Sloan was extra careful not to mention Will or anything to do with him. However, it seemed she wasn't doing a good job, because as the time passed, Mackenzie was drinking more and more. By 11 p.m, she had already drunk 3 martinis, 2 tequilas, 1 whiskey and was currently doing vodka shots with the staffers, whom they had joined 30 minutes ago. She had tried to make her stop, telling her she would be dead tomorrow, but Mac had dismissed her advice.

So now Sloan was watching her from afar and was dialling Jim's number. He was still in the newsroom, working on god-knows-what. After the thrid ring, he picked up.

"Jim, it's Sloan. Can you come to Hang Chew's right now ?" She said quickly.

"What's wrong ? Is it Mac ?" He asked, worried.

"Yeah. She's really drunk and still drinking. I can't make her stop. She's upset about Will."

"I'll be here in five." He said. "And Sloan, don't let her go anywhere."

"Who do you take me for ?" She replied, but the phone went dead. He had already hung up.

Sloan knew that if she wasn't able to talk some sense into her, there were only three people who could. Will, Charlie and Jim. Will was the source of the problem and Mac would be mortified if Charlie saw her like this, so she had called Jim, the little brother.

True to his words, he came in five minutes later. Sloan waved at him.

"Where is she ?"

"Over there." She pointed at her. "Do you need help or something ?"

"No, I got it. Thanks for calling." And he made his way to Mac.

Despite her drunken state, Mackenzie noticed him coming toward her. "Hey, Jim." She greeted him with a drunken smile. "Wanna do shots ?"

"No. And you're done too." He took her bag and coat. Without sparing a look to his coworkers, he helped her stand up.

"You're a fun spoiler, you know that." She pouted at him.

"Yeah, I know. Let's go." He kept talking to her, so she wouldn't resist. Before she knew it, she was out the door and in the street.

The fresh air didn't make her feel better at all. If anything, if made her feel worse. Jim was hailing a cab just three meters away. She tried calling him, but she began seeing stars; not that actual stars, the metaphorical ones.

And then, there was nothing but blackness.

**Let me know what you think about this new development. :)**

**Also, I can't wait to see the new episode. I want lots of Will/Mac (I missed it last week).**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you all for the feedbacks. They are very much appreciated!**

**Also, I'd like to know if any of you, fellow writers, would agree to be my beta. I need someone to read what I write, just to make sure it's not completely rubbish. Let me know if you are interested. Thank you!**

**Now, enjoy the new chapter. :)**

When she opened her eyes, Mackenzie wondered where she was. It took her a few minutes to clear the fog in her mind and to look around. She was lying on a bed with absolutely no memory of how she got here. But somehow, she had ended up in her very own bedroom.

After several attempts, she managed to stand up. She went to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water. As she was about to undress to get a shower that would hopefully wake her up for good, her stomach growled. She decided to eat something first. She made her way to the kitchen but as she was walking toward it, she heard noises. In the corridor where she was currently standing, she took the first object at hand. It so happened that it was a saber from Japan, giiven by a friend as a birthday present. Mac didn't know why said friend had chosen it, but it was a beautiful weapon.

She had an open kitchen, very well equiped although it was absolutely useless because it was a very well-known fact that Mackenzie McHale couldn't cook at all. She was ready to defend herself but as soon as she saw the intruder, she relaxed.

"Jim, what the hell are you doing here ?" She said in her high-pitched British accent. The young man turned around to greet her only to be meet by the saber's sight.

"Wow, are you gonna kill me with that thing ?" He asked with a smile.

"No, idiot. I didn't know it was you. How did you get in here anyway ?" She was confused by his presence, especially since she didn't remember how she got here herself.

"You passed out last night. I brought you to your apartment and used your key." He stared at her to gauge her reaction. It didn't take long. He could tell the exact moment when she went from trying to remember last night to actually remembering it.

"Damn it." She sat down, putting the saber on the table. "I can't believe-" Oh, yeah, the events were definitely coming back to her. She had drunk too much too fast. She was horrifyingly embarrassed. "Bloody hell Jim ! I got drunk in front of the staff. Why didn't you stop me ? You're suppose to stop me from doing stupid things." She put her head into her hands, hiding.

Jim sat down next to her. "Hey. It's alright." He tried to comfort her. While the staffers were used to drinking with Mac, it was true that they had probably never seen her like last night. But he wasn't going to mention that, and they wouldn't say anything either, he would make sure of it.

"It's not. I have a headache the size of the fucking planet." Her head was splitting.

"Here. It'll help." He gave her a pill and a glass of water. She swallowed it immediately.

"Thanks."

"And here's coffee to keep you awake."

"What time is it ?" She asked, taking a sip.

"9:23 a.m." Jim replied calmly.

She half-spitted it out/half-choked herself with the drink. "Are you kidding ?" She yelled. "Why the fuck didn't you wake me up ?" She stood up. "We need to move."

"Mac, Mac. Calm down. I already called Kendra and told her to do the rundown. And Will won't know because he's not gonna be there until 1 p.m." He said, catching her arm.

Will. She had almost managed to forget him. She hadn't given him a single thought since she woke up. And now that Jim had mentionned him, she couldn't think about anything else. Will had spent the night with Nina, he was probably having a late morning in bed right now too. She should have drank a lot more, she suddenly realized. Her plan of drinking herself into oblivion had been a total failure. The headache was slowly decreasing and giving way to an even more painful heartache.

"We don't have to hurry. You're in no state to handle the rundown and I'm not leaving you like this." He said, with a look that told her it was useless to argue. "Eat, take a shower and change. Then we'll go." Strangely enough, Mackenzie did as she was told. Jim was right, there was no point in showing up at work in her current state. And thanks God, Will would not be there when she would arrived because he had an appointment with Dr Habib.

Fourty-five minutes later, she was ready to leave. In the cab, she looked at Jim. Hhe hadn't been able to go home because of her. "Don't worry. It's fine." He replied.

"But you didn't even get changed."

"Hey, it's not like it would be the first time, you know." True, he sometimes spent the night in the newsroom, too engrossed in whatever he was doing to notice the time. "What did he do ?" He changed the subject.

"What ?" Mac was confused by his question.

"Sloan told me you were upset about Will. What did he do ?" Jim respected Will McAvoy, not because he was his boss, but because he was a good man. Hovewer, he didn't like how he treated Mac. And he would always be on her side, no matter what she had done to Will.

"She wasn't suppose to tell you that." She just wished that people would stop asking her about Will. "He didn't do anything that he didn't have a right to do, ok ?" Looking at her senior producer, she added "I don't want you to asked him about it either. I know you are looking out for me and I appreciate it. But please, stop asking about him. Yes, he's the reason I was crying. Yes, he's the reason I got drunk. But I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." Jim was about to reply that she wasn't going a great job at taking her of herself. "I know it doesn't look like it right now. I just need some time. Can you give it to me, Jim ? Can you let me deal with this on my own without demanding answers ?" She was pleading now.

"Fine, I'll do what you want. But I don't like it. Just, please, don't do it again." He didn't want a repeat of last night.

"I'll try." She couldn't promise him she wouldn't drown her sorrows again, so she settled for the next best thing. Jim wasn't satisfied with this answer, but she didn't find it in her to care. The rest of the ride passed in silence.

By 11:45 a.m, they reached the newsroom. The rundown was already over. Mackenzie went to Kendra and thanked her for taking over.

"No problem. I left everything on your desk." The assistant producer replied, a small smile on her lips. "He's not here yet." Her boss's gaze lingered to the anchor's office.

"Good. Just make sure he doesn't know I wasn't here, ok ?" She didn't want to have to explain to Will why she had come in late. "Also, don't tell him about last night." She left for her office.

She had drank quite a lot with the staffers, no doubt they were dying to ask questions (they weren't journalists for nothing). However, one look from Jim told them that they'd better keep quite and forget what they saw.

"Uh, Mac." Kendra called, before she had time to reach her office.

"Yeah ?"

Kendra walked to her. "Charlie knows." She said quietly.

"Charlie knows I was drunk last night ? How did -"

"No, not about the drunk part. About the other one. He came in when we were doing the rundown." Damn it, now she had to go talk with the old man. "He asked where you were."

"What did you tell him ?" Fuck! Charlie would want answers and he was like a lie detector, he could always tell when you were bullshitting him.

"That I didn't know and that Jim called me to fill in for you." Well, at least Kendra had had the good sense of telling him the truth.

"Alright, I'm gonna go upstairs and fix this. Thanks." No matter how screwed she was, she'd rather face Charlie than Will.

"You want me to come with you ?"

"No, Jim. I'll handle it. Just go to work." She said, determined.

In the elevator, she tried to think of a way to get out of this mess. This week kept getting better and better, and it was only Tuesday. Maybe she should skip work until next Monday. No, she had told Will she wouldn't take time off, she was gonna stick to it.

"Charlie, how are you doing ?" She asked cheerfully as she entered his office. He stopped reading the newspaper and put it down.

"Mackenzie. I'm good. What about you ?" He stared at her. One look at his face told her her initial plan of pretending everything was fine and being as jovial as she usually was wasn't going to work. He was clearly waiting to hear whatever excuse would come out of her mouth. So she changed her strategy.

"Ok. I'm sorry about this morning. I'm sorry about not calling you to let you know I was gonna be late. Please, please, forgive me." She really hoped he wouldn't be too mad. Charlie was a good friend but he was also her boss. It was his responsability to make sure the show could still go on. Will had told him yesterday that he wouldn't be here this morning, then Mackenzie, whom he had expected to see, was nowhere to be found as was Jim.

"How the hell are we suppose to do a show without an anchor, an EP and a senior producer ?" He stood up, raising his voice. He wasn't angry, but he was a bit disappointed about her behavior. She was the best EP in the business, damn it !

"I know. Again, I'm sorry." She sent him an apologetic look.

"Where the fuck where you anyway ? Where was Jim ?"

Mac wasn't going to let him go after the senior producer. "I take full responsibility for what happened. He was with me. I got drunk, I passed out and he just helped me get home." As soon as she finished, she realized what she had just revealed. "Oh god, I didn't meant to say that. Please, just pretend you didn't hear it." She looked sheepisly at him.

Charlie sat down with a sigh. He couldn't stay mad at her. Mackenzie was like a daughter to him. He cared about her. "I'm not going to pretend that. But I'll make you a deal." He paused."You don't drink yourself to death and you get here in time, alright."

"And if I don't ?" She asked him, hesitantly.

"I tell Will."

"You wouldn't." She was outraged. "That's blackmail !" It was a low blow she didn't expect.

"I'm pretty sure the thought of Will finding out is the only thing that can stop you from doing it again." Yes, it was blackmail. But it was for her own good. "So, do we have a deal ?"

Mackenzie avoided his stare for a few moments. Then, she turned her angry eyes to him. "Fine." She conceded reluctantly. "Can I go now ?"

"Sure." He answered, going back to reading his newspaper. She left the room immediately. Charlie Skinner wasn't particularly proud of himself for what he had just done but he wasn't going to apologize for it either.

For the next three weeks, Mackenzie seemed to be back to normal. She had done exactly what Charlie wanted. Three weeks without alcohol to help her ease the pain. If she had been sure she could go to work after a night of drinking, she wouldn't have kept her end of the deal. But she knew perfectly well that if she began drinking, she wouldn't be able to stop. Then, she wouldn't be able to wake up, would be late for work and Charlie would tell Will.

So, she had done her job as well as ever. It was as if she had never received that damned envelope. She came in, worked 14 hours a day, joked with the staff. She even willed herself to not change her attitude toward Will. This last part proved difficult because everytime they were in the same room, she had a strong urge to hit him.

She was doing such a good job that she had finally persuaded Jim and Sloan that she was alright. Therefore, everybody was convinced that their boss was fine. What they didn't know is that it was taking all her strength not to break in front of them. Every night she went home and cried herself to sleep.

Yeah, Mackenzie McHale fooled everyone. She was willing to sacrifice herself for Will's happiness. She just didn't know how long she would be able to maintain this pretense of normality.


	7. Chapter 7

**Again, thank you all for your wonderful reviews! :) I can't tell you how much they make me happy.**

**Also, I have no idea of Mac's real age, so in this fic, she's 36. I hope it's not too old for you. ^^**

Mackenzie was currently in Will's office, having a very interesting debate about economics. Well, actually Will and Sloan were debating and she just stood there, in the middle of the room, watching the two argue.

An expert in economics had been invited in tonight's show, he was a dear friend of Sloan's and one of her mentors, an old professor whom she respected a lot. She had recommended him. Mac didn't understand why Sloan couldn't do the segment herself, since she was the Senior Financial Reporter for News Night. Her friend had just insisted it would be better to have him as a guest because he knew a lot more about the issues they'd be talking about. Mackenzie had no idea how that could be possible seeing that Sloan was like an Encyclopedia of Economics, she knew everything. However, the EP had followed her lead and accepted to have Dr. Mason on the show, largely due to the fact that she was still completely clueless about economic issues, no matter how hard Sloan tried to teach her.

"I just don't want you to be an ass to one of the most respected teacher in the country." Sloan replied to Will's question about why they were even discussing this.

Sloan had forgotten that Will would be interviewing her mentor. She was so used to the anchor's tone and sarcasm during interviews that she hadn't thought about it when she'd made her recommendation.

"Are you asking me to go easy on him ?"

"No, I'm asking you to be nice with him. He's not some coward who'll avoid your questions. In fact, he always says what's on his mind, so he might be a bit-" She paused, trying to find the appropriate word. Will stared at her, waiting and enjoying the moment. He knew his attitude would piss her off and she knew he was doing it on purpose. They had this weird big brother/little sister relationship.

"Straightforward." Mac offered.

"Yes." Sloan shouted, snapping her fingers and pointing in the EP's direction. "Straightforward, exactly. Thank you Kenzie."

"You're welcome." She responded with a small smile.

"So as I was saying, he's gonna be straightforward and I don't want you to be an ass if he says something that you don't like. He's an expert on this, way, way above us. Just be cool, and don't make a fool of him because-"

"He's the expert." Mac cut off. "Will will be nice, I promise." She gave him a look when he opened his mouth to interrupt her. "Actually, I have an idea. Why don't you do the interview ?"

"What ?"

"Really ?!"

The anchor and the economist spoke at the same time. Will was giving her a are-you-fucking-kidding-me look while Sloan looked both thrilled and hesistant. It was News Night with Will McAvoy and she didn't want him to be mad at her if she was doing an interview that he could very well do himself.

"Yeah. It's perfect. Will is going to do the show as usual, and when it's time for the interview, he'll just throw it back to you." Mac explained, staring at Will, daring him to disagree.

"Fine." He gave in. Mac's tone told him this was not up for discussion. If the situation was different, he would have fought back but he didn't want things to get ugly.

Mac was acting all professional, he had no comment to make on her work, she did it like she always did. But deep down, he knew something was missing. The others hadn't noticed because she was still the same with them, however, no matter how hard she tried to pretend she had no problem with him, he knew she was lying. There was no more banter between them, since she had snapped at him in the rundown meeting a month ago. He didn't like, and if he was truthful, it hurt him because she still laughed with the staff, but when it came to him, she was in full EP mode. Sure, they'd fought a lot before, but they always had witty conversations and late night phone calls. Now, those small things, that you don't notice until they're not here anymore, were gone.

So, for the past month, whenever Will had wanted to yell or argue, he'd fought his initial reaction because he didn't want to make matters worse. It was laughable really, he'd become Leno whenever Mac was involved.

"You sure you're okay with this ?" Sloan asked, an apologetic look on her face.

"Yeah. I should have thought about it first." _Don't try too hard McAvoy._ "Anyway, she's right, you'll do the interview. You know more about economics than I do."

"Ok. Thanks." She replied. "I have to go." Her eyes caught Don walking in the bullpen.

Sloan had noticed for some time that Mac wasn't talking to Will about anything that didn't involve the show. Therefore, she had decided that whenever she was in a room with those two, she would leave them alone as soon as she could. It wasn't the best plan ever, she was aware of it, but then again, Sloan was not known for her amazing relationship skills. She was just hoping that leaving them alone would force them to talk to each other. So far, she had been unsuccessful. Maybe this time would be different.

"See you later." She said, getting out of the room.

Mackenzie was about to leave too but Will's voice stopped her.

"Wait." He almost yelled.

"Yes, Will ?"

"I was thinking … It's been a long time since we saw each other outside of work… Are you free tonight ? We could go out to dinner or get takeouts and go to my place, you know." He ran his hand through his hair, looking at her apprehensively.

Did he just ask her out, Mac wondered. He had some nerve ! Like she would ever want to step foot in his apartment again. No fucking way ! She didn't want to spend time in a place that now belonged to Nina Howard. And there was no chance in hell she would go out to dinner either. She could barely stand to be alone in the same room with him for more than two minutes, she would never survive a whole dinner. She refused to be some kind of replacement for Nina's absence !

"No." She said, offering no further explanation.

"Just no ?" Will was taken aback by her simple answer. "Why not ?"

"Yeah, just no. I have other plans tonight." That was absolutely untrue, but she couldn't picture herself telling him that everytime she looked at him, she imagined him fucking the gossip columnist!

"LIKE WHAT ?" Fuck caution ! He wasn't gonna let this one go so easily.

"LIKE IT'S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS WILL !" She yelled at him, almost immediately regretting her outburst. She really had no desire to have another breakdown in front of the team. She stormed out of his office and walked straight to hers, not looking at the staffers who had undoubtedly heard her.

However, before she could reach the safety of her offfice, she felt someone grab her arm and turn her around.

"LIKE HELL IT'S NOT MY FUCKING BUSINESS !" Right now, Will didn't give a damn about where he was or who was looking. He fully intended to make her tell him what was wrong, he didn't care how. He had tried for weeks to get her to talk and he couldn't take it anymore.

"Let me go right now." She warned him calmly, but with poison in her words.

"OR WHAT ?!" He screamed. He saw Mackenzie open her mouth but before she could say anything, someone else spoke.

"OR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU !" He heard a deep voice and then, he was pinned against the glass wall behind him. He was looking into the murderous eyes of a man who was about to break his arm, he could feel it.

"ERIC !" Mackenzie roared. Will glanced at her, she was surrounded by three men who looked like they were about to kill him too.

She came up to stand next to the man who was holding him. "Eric, let him go. Now !" Eric released his grasp. He turned his face to Mackenzie and asked in a soft voice if she was okay.

"Yes. Thank you." She answered quietly.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON ?" Charlie Skinner's voice resonated. He had just stepped into the bullpen and the staff had their eyes on Mac, Will and a guy he didn't know. Everybody turned to him. He began to walk toward the trio.

Eric said nothing and Will was too shocked by what happened.

"Charlie, it's fine." Mac explained. "Will just lost his temper."

"Who the fuck are you ?" Will asked smoothly, having found his voice again. He didn't yell because, while he could defend himself against most people, he was no match for the tall blond man in front of him.

"Yeah, I would also like to know that." Charlie agreed with his anchor. "And I'm sure we're not the only one." He added, sweeping his gaze around the room.

"Right. Of course. This is Eric." Mackenzie started, indicating the tall blond man with dark brown eyes who was standing the nearest to her.

Then, she continued, pointing at each man. "Derek." He was about the same height as Will with short black hair and bright green eyes. "Chris." He was a little bit taller with brown hair and blue eyes. "And Isaac." He was the shortest but still considered tall. He had short curled brown hair with brown eyes.

The four of them were good-looking and fit.

"They're Marines." She explained. Looking at her boss, she added "Charlie is a Marine too, he fought in Vietnam." As soon as she mentionned this, the four men straighten up and spoke in unison a mark of respect "Sir."

"Gentlemen." The old man greeted them. "How did you meet them ?" He asked Mac, curious.

The story of how she had met those four amazing men was a good one. When she'd turned 22, she went to the Middle East. She hadn't finished her journalism school because it was boring. She wanted to experience things and be on the ground where the news were happening. And Mackenzie McHale, whether she was 22 or 36, always fought for what she believed in. So she'd managed to convince a highly ranked officer in the Marine to assign her to a unit, in order to follow them and report reals news. However, she'd ended up in the most difficult team of Marines there was, which consisted of Eric, Derek, Chris and Isaac.

Mackenzie had soon learnt that the four men were orphans and had been in the same orphanage. None of them had ever find a permanent home because they didn't get along with anyone else. They were the same age and they'd became brothers. They'd all enrolled in the Marines at a young age, although at the time, she had no idea why because it turned out they were the worst at following orders.

At the beginning, they hadn't believed she would last long and hadn't made any effort to support her, probably due to the fact that she was an annoying young reporter (even if she often insisted that she was actually older by a year). After a month, Mackenzie was still holding her ground. She spent time with the unit which consisted of several teams, got to know them, she also trained with them (that had been the worst part because Marine's training was terrible). After 3 months, Mackenzie McHale, though no Marine, was considered an essential part of the unit.

Eric, Derek, Chris and Isaac had admitted that she was tougher than she looked. From then on, they showed her respect for the strength and passion she'd shown. The four men considered her a force to be reckon with. However, there was a defining moment that changed her relationship with them forever. After 13 months, Mac and her boys as she called them in front of the whole unit (because it made everyone laugh) were the only passengers of a boat which was navigating in the Indian ocean. The boat had sank during a stromy weather and they'd ended up stranded on an island, which turned out to be absolutely deserted from human life. They had waited 5 months for rescue. She had spent five months with these guys, sharing everything from meals to episodic breakdowns because the thought of not knowing if they would ever leave this damned island was unbearable. They'd been her anchor and she'd been theirs. During that difficult time, she'd become part of their family, their sister.

Hence the fact that they were very protective of her and that she could make them do anything. They always listened to her, there was a rule among them : whatever Mackenzie says goes.

"I reported the news from the Middle East. I was on their team." She answered Charlie's question, giving him the short version.

"When ?"

"Well, I was 22 so that was-" She paused, counting in her head how many years she'd known them. She was terrible with numbers.

"Fourteen." Isaac whispered, looking at her with a smile.

"Right, so that was fourteen years ago." She finally completed.

Now, Charlie understood where the overprotectiveness came from.

"How come I've never heard of them ?" It was Will, he was wondering why he'd never heard about those guys. They'd been together for two years, surely she would have said something about having surrogate brothers.

"They weren't in the country when we were together Will." She responded softly, feeling guilty for the way Eric had pinned him against the wall. She knew it was bound to bring back bad memories from his childhood. For the entire time they'd been together, her brothers had been abroad so she'd never told him about them. However, they knew a lot about him.

"Wait, what are you even doing here ?" The EP suddenly asked, turning to the four men. "You didn't tell me you were coming."

"Yeah, we wanted to surprise you, sis." Chris said, affectionately. "Hope you don't mind." He added, jokingly.

"Are you kidding ? It's wonderful. I missed you so much !" She hugged him, smiling.

"Don't mind us."

"Derek, no need to be jealous. Come here you idiot." Soon, she'd welcomed all her brothers with a bear hug. She was pretty sure those guys had magical powers because one minute she was anxious and sad, and the other she was relaxed and happy.

She untangled herself from Eric's embrace and turned to Charlie. "I have to go. I'm just gonna get them settled in and I'll come back after lunch, alright ?" Her boss nodded. "Jim, take care of things until I come back."

"Sure, no problem." The senior producer replied.

"Well, boys, let's get you home." They followed her, except for Eric who turned to Will. "Eric, come on." She called him.

"Don't hurt her ever again." The blond Marine threatened him. He turned around and joined the others.

They exited the bullpen. It took a moment and Charlie's "Go back to work people" for the room to go back to its usual cacophony. Will walked to his office for a much needed scotch and cigarette, sending a look to Charlie and asking him silently to be left alone.


End file.
